VANCOUVER — The public outcry and outpouring of funds over the case of Captain, the German shepherd who died last week after he was found in a Kitsilano dumpster, comes from the instinctual need to nurture that many people feel when they see an injured animal or child, according to one expert.

"Here is this helpless thing which automatically produces this emotional response and furthermore, his only flaw was that he was too friendly," said Stanley Coren, a University of B.C. professor emeritus of psychology and specialist in human-dog relations.

Coren said Captain's history — as a police-dog candidate that was rejected for his gentle nature — has further intensified the emotional reaction, as evidenced by the organization of a vigil in the dog's memory Wednesday night and an online fundraising campaign that so far has raised almost $70,000.

"Human beings have a need to nurture, and [beings] that are weak and helpless, we tend to respond to," he said.

People often treat their pet dogs the same as they would a young child — witness the high-pitched, cooing voices often directed at both — and this association creates a visceral response when a dog such as Captain is so badly harmed, Coren said.

Just as when a child is kidnapped, people feel collective guilt for not having prevented the crime, he said, and "grasp at straws — start a fund, name it after the child, an Amber Alert system or name a park or whatever else. These dogs are surrogates for young helpless children and if a child has been hurt, then all of us have failed."

The underweight Captain, suffering from bruises and cuts, was found wrapped in a bloody blanket, and was probably quadriplegic by the time he was rescued from a dumpster in Kitsilano on the 1400-block of Maple Street last Wednesday. A day later he died of a heart attack, despite B.C. SPCA staff having performed CPR on him for more than 30 minutes.

The dog's owner, Brian Whitlock, was arrested in Vancouver Wednesday for an outstanding criminal-harassment warrant dating back to an April 4 incident. He was released from jail Thursday evening, but while in custody the SPCA investigators interviewed him about the death of his dog.

"It's preliminary to come to any conclusions in this case, but we're pleased we're now able to have the opportunity to speak with him," Marcie Moriarty, the B.C. SPCA's manager of cruelty investigations, said before Whitlock's release Thursday. "We absolutely will be recommending charges to Crown counsel in this case."

Unless the necropsy proves beyond a reasonable doubt that a human killed Captain, no charges will be laid, Moriarty said. Under the Criminal Code, the maximum penalty for animal cruelty causing death is up to five years in jail and a lifetime ban on owning pets. A fine of up to $10,000 can also be imposed.

Captain's death brought hundreds of people and their pooches out to a vigil Wednesday night at Kitsilano's Hadden Park — one of Vancouver's 35 off-leash dog parks. More than 1,200 people have so far donated almost $70,000 to an online campaign to raise money for the SPCA investigation into how Captain wound up clinging to life in a dumpster.

As of Thursday evening, it was the fundraising platform indiegogo's sixth most successful ongoing campaigns, substantially surpassing the $10,000 amount estimated to cover investigation costs.

Moriarty and the SPCA are grateful for the public support, which fully funds their animal-cruelty investigation unit and the roughly 7,000 complaints it looks into every year. Donations can be made through their website at spca.bc.ca or by calling 604-681-7271.

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Case of abused German Shepherd spurs outpouring of emotion, $70k in donations

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